52 Problems

"It’s fun. I keep doing this because it’s fun. I think there’d be no other reason —..."

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 02:31:54 +0800

“It’s fun. I keep doing this because it’s fun. I think there’d be no other reason — well, I mean, there are other reasons — but I wouldn’t do it unless it were fun, unless it stayed fun. And that’s pretty much my philosophy of life. You know, I blow glass because it’s fun. I do improv comedy because it’s fun. I fold paper because it’s fun. Initially, I did it because the mathematics was fun. Now when I get time, I fold paper because actually folding paper is fun. So that’s the driving force. It’s maybe a bit personal, but I think everyone should do something they find fun.”

- Erik Demaine, Between the Folds

"The right tool, learned deeply, used when appropriate, no matter how basic, can beat the pants off..."

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:51:00 +0800

“The right tool, learned deeply, used when appropriate, no matter how basic, can beat the pants off of “features” any day. Because it isn’t about the tool, or the feature, it is about your ability to use it to achieve the goal at hand. The better you know the tools you have, the less likely you are to seek out replacements for them.”

- Patrick Rhone.

This is actually a quote from a non-magic book, but I think it’s easy to see how it can apply to approaching the craft as a whole. So often there are news products coming out that boast unnecessary conditions and features, but when it comes to real, in-the-trenches working situations, it’s all about using the right ‘tool’ at just the right moment to create the perfect miracle. And, as the quote points out, sometimes it’s the most basic of things that gets the job done.

You can tell just from looking at his eyes that he loves what he...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:40:45 +0800

You can tell just from looking at his eyes that he loves what he does more than anything else, even to this very day. It’s no wonder he’s so incredible at what he does — thanks for the inspiration, Dave!

Jeremy & Co. do it again.

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:58:58 +0800

Jeremy & Co. do it again.

Michael Ammar meets Ammar Facts

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 01:54:00 +0800

Michael Ammar meets Ammar Facts

Q: What’s creepier than Doug Henning? A: Criss Angel as...

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:57:00 +0800

Q: What’s creepier than Doug Henning?

A: Criss Angel as Doug Henning.

Rather than reply with an off-handed remark about my...

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:17:00 +0800

Rather than reply with an off-handed remark about my friend’s loyalties lying in the wrong places, I thought for a moment about what this implied and came to the conclusion that this blog is, to put it bluntly, not focused enough in its theme to really warrant any importance on its own. So with that in mind, I thought it over and have decided to assign the roles of my respective social networks as such:

visualmadness.com: An online portfolio for my work as both a magician and a flourisher. This will be where potential clients can learn how and why to book me as a performer at their events, as well as read up on all the juicy details of my mysterious past and find out, once and for all, whether or not I’m related to Bone Ho.
doublelift.tumblr.com: Thoughts on magic and flourishing. The trick here will be ensuring that every post has something substantial to say, whether it be a photo, a video, a quote, or even a stream-of-conscious rant about the Paddle Move. Everything else is arbitrary, and will thus be relegated to the category below.
Twitter: all the arbitrary stuff that I’ll no longer be posting in the category above.
Facebook: I’m not one for spamming my Facebook friends with meaningless updates about my feelings, ‘funny’ videos of cats, and especially not those unattributed quotes that are so vague in their nature that they’d be better off found inside of a fortune cookie. When I do post to Facebook it’s usually to other peoples’ walls, or in reply to comments left on mine. On a few occasions I’ve slipped and have posted links to certain videos and game (but never videogames), but I always end up feeling really bad afterwards. Point is, it’s easy for me to dump links on the 1000+ followers I have on Twitter since I don’t know them all, but it’s harder to do on Facebook when I know exactly who my audience is and am paranoid that wasting their time in any shape or form will alter their perception of me in a negative way. tl;dr: when it comes to Facebook, I’m a lurker.
LinkedIn: Just kidding. No one uses LinkedIn.

“Back in March I shot my last special (Chewed up) in...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:35:02 +0800

“Back in March I shot my last special (Chewed up) in Boston. The weekend before, I spent in California, working the set out for the last time at the Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club. It happens to be really the perfect place to run an hour before you shoot it on tape. I was there for two nights and I saw on the schedule that the very next night, and for the following entire week, George would be there doing the same thing for his special. He shot his special (It’s Bad for ya) on the very same night that I was shooting mine. March 1st, 2008. We were on stage, shooting our specials that we had worked on all year in the same way, all the way down to working on it in the same last stage, at the very same moment.

I don’t think that makes me special. But I knew it was going on and I thought about it the very second before I walked out on that stage to do that special. In my mind I thanked George for showing me the way and giving me the courage to say what I wanted on stage and to keep getting better and doing more. And I remember thinking that I was honored to shoot mine on his night. And that even though I never got to know him and I’ll never know if he ever maybe caught me on TV and if I ever made him smirk or laugh. But even from a distance it was, and is, an honor to know that I run in the same circle and do the same thing as that great man did.

I am intensely sad that he is gone. I owe him a huge debt for the rest of my life.

Thanks George. And goodbye.”

“Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:14:32 +0800

“Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea forever.”

- Will Self

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you — Eric Mead.

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:38:33 +0800

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you — Eric Mead.

Ain’t life grand?

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:39:26 +0800

Ain’t life grand?

After searching high and low for a quick-writing pen that...

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:43:53 +0800

After searching high and low for a quick-writing pen that wouldn’t smudge on my Moleskine notebook, I eventually stumbled on the Staedtler triplus fineliner Dry Safe and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Just S$1.35, too. Love it.

"If it were real, the magic would have to come from a place just beyond the performer, from a place..."

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:10:55 +0800

“If it were real, the magic would have to come from a place just beyond the performer, from a place to which he serves as that gateway. This is the key. When he clicks his fingers and cards change to the four Aces, we know we have experienced sleight of hand. Real magic would not be quite that quick and easy. Real magic would take investment. Real magic would draw you in, and make you nervous.”

- Derren Brown, Absolute Magic

Not one new release, not two, but SEVEN. One for every day of...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:38:59 +0800

Not one new release, not two, but SEVEN. One for every day of the week. As if Smoke & Mirrors and If an Octopus could Palm weren’t already awesome enough, there’s five other as-of-yet unannounced products that’ll be released from Friday until next Thursday. I don’t know what you’ll be doing then, but I know where I’ll be: refreshing this page after getting out of bed every morning.

The great Dave Williamson. Talk about organic.

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:40:45 +0800

The great Dave Williamson. Talk about organic.

Right there, in the description: “A T&R card card like...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:33:44 +0800

Right there, in the description: “A T&R card card like no other…”

Can someone please explain to me how this is different from The Reformation, The Reparation, Reparation Redux, Ripped and Restored, Torn, Fusion, or any other piece-by-piece Torn and Restored card routine that’s been put out before? What new ground is being broken here?

I’m all for innovating new methods for an old effect, as long as they either improve the effect or streamline the process. Star seems to do neither. So for what it’s worth, I think there’s a reason it’s “remained a closely guarded secret for 8 years” — no one else was interested.

Photo

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:18:26 +0800

"An entertainer gives you exactly what you want. An entertainer gives you those good old songs that..."

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:55:29 +0800

“An entertainer gives you exactly what you want. An entertainer gives you those good old songs that you want to hear. An artist gives you what you don’t know you want. Something you might know you want the next time, but you never knew you wanted it before.”

- David Cronenberg

Garagehands

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:05:00 +0800

Garagehands

I’m really not sure how to feel about this.

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:07:09 +0800

I’m really not sure how to feel about this.